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Wednesday, 10 February 2010

I can't tell you how many times I have read those 5 words over the last six years or so. "We won't do a Leeds" has been uttered by football chairmen up and down the country since our implosion and subsequent nose dive to the depths of League One. Whether the men in question penned the statement in confidence, hope or sheer ignorance it seems that there are plenty of clubs 'Doing a Leeds' at this present moment.

Portsmouth F.C.
Rapidly spiralling out of control, The Premiership and possibly even existence! Several owners already this season and we're still 6 weeks from Easter. The South Coast, over-achieving minnows are reportedly £60M in the red and our old friends at HMRC are demanding £7.5M immediately! Today they have been granted a 7-day stay of execution as they cling onto the faint hope of a takeover. Could possibly be the first Premiership club to go out of existence.

Cardiff City F.C.
Ah now this is an interesting story... Several years ago that serial clown Mr Sam Hamann claimed that Leeds' demise started on a wet and windy January afternoon in Cardiff when his team at the time dumped Premiership leaders Leeds United out of The F.A. Cup. Leeds United went into reverse for many reasons following that defeat but that game was far from being one of them. Incensed by such an accusation Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale decided to teach the Welsh b******* a lesson and donned his Special Agent façade and several years later appeared as a director at Cardiff City - Agent "Publicity" Pete had successfully infiltrated the enemy from within. Systematically he began to rip the club apart, negotiated them a new stadium that they couldn't afford, lied to the fans about season ticket receipts being spent on players and not ornamental orchids for his plush 3-acre office. As we stand Agent P is 28 days from successfully completing the biggest undercover operation that World football has ever seen.

Sadly for Peter it would be a hell of a lot easier if any of the above was true. Cardiff City are on the brink of administration (again) whilst Ridsdale claims that everything is ok in a style non too dissimilar to the Iraqi Foreign News Minister when he claimed that coalition troops were not even in Baghdad... as 3 heavily armoured American tanks rolled by in the background! How Peter Ridsdale is even allowed inside a football ground is beyond me?!!?

Having said all that it couldn't happen to a nicer club.

There are other clubs who are currently 'Doing a Leeds' albeit to a lesser extent; Crystal Palace, West Ham United, Charlton Athletic, Notts County even Liverpool and our friends at Old Trafford are giving it a go! Eventually luck is going to run out for one of these companies and we will lose a professional football club, the corner stones of communities, heirlooms passed from Parent to Child for generations, all that history - lost! and when this happens I will utter 5 words too "YOU'RE NOT LAUGHING ANY MORE!" how you would all have loved Leeds to have gone to the wall in 2007. I have absolutely no sympathy for any of you.

About The Author

A life-long Leeds fan who can usually be found in N10 at Elland Road. Having grown up on the 'wrong' side of the Pennines surrounded by the type of fans who believe that being in the pub to reserve your seat an hour before Super Sunday kicks off constitutes 'fanaticism'. Having constantly fought my corner against the eternally brain-washed, the 3rd January was a long time coming...